4-Step Guide to Choosing the International Payment Gateway for Your Business

Payment gateways are intermediate mechanisms that perform a verification check on the data of a customer’s credit card and then send that information to both the customer’s bank and the company’s bank to approve the transaction. When a buyer or client bank is located in a different country than the seller, it is vital to use international payment gateways to conduct this procedure.

When dealing with domestic sales, you often only need to be familiar with one language, one currency, and one jurisdiction to report sales tax. This makes it simple to process transactions.

However, worldwide sales cover a far wider geographical area than simply one nation. Users can join up from any location in the globe because of the intrinsic structure of the platform, which is borderless. Here is when things get complicated.

If you want to service customers from all over the world, you need to process payments from almost any nation and, ideally, handle a variety of languages and currencies. You may accomplish this goal with the assistance of international payment gateways.

Which international payment gateway is going to be the most effective for my company?

When figuring out how to accept an all-round payment gateway that works globally, you may ask the questions below:

  • How much of an investment are you willing to make?
  • How soon do you need to accept payments before the deadline?
  • How quickly do you need cash to arrive in your account?
  • How much help with your customers do you expect needing?

Your ultimate choice will also be heavily influenced by whether international payment gateways will effectively interact with the other accounting systems that your firm uses. However, it is essential to keep in mind that you are not required to provide just a single method of payment to your customers. It is advantageous for companies to give several alternative payment choices since it is vital to fulfilling the preferences of a variety of clients.

1.     Include a Selection of Payment Methods Tailored to the Clients:

Payment preferences differ from nation to country, and if a customer’s preferred mode of payment is unavailable, they are more likely to leave their basket. For example, most German customers choose SEPA Direct Debit while online shoppers in the Netherlands use iDeal.

Conduct research on the markets that you want to serve before signing a contract with a supplier of an international payment gateway.

Are the payment preferences consistent or do they vary from person to person?

Which well-known electronic wallets, such as Google Pay, Apple Pay, and others, are accepted there?

Are there any local means of payment available?

Keep in mind that besides payment methods that are exclusive to a certain region, some possibilities are global. For example, credit and debit cards are the most commonly used form of making online payments around the world. Because credit cards issued by the world’s two largest financial institutions, Visa and Mastercard, are often used to make payments online in a variety of countries and regions, merchants must be able to include these cards.

2.     Adjust Transaction Currencies Based on Target Markets:

You need to take into consideration different currencies when searching for the most suitable payment gateway to use for international business dealings.

  • The transaction currency is the one that your consumers see while they are shopping in your online store or mobile app. Customers are always charged in the currency that is shown on the website, regardless of the currency that their credit cards or bank accounts are denominated in.
  • When the transaction currency and the settlement currency are not the same, the acquirer is normally responsible for determining the foreign exchange rates and any additional expenses.
  • The settlement currency is undoubtedly a problem that should be taken into consideration; but, from the perspective of the customer, the transaction currencies that you provide are of the utmost importance.

Prices that are listed in a different currency may puzzle to some people since not everyone is knowledgeable about currency exchange rates, and more significantly, not everyone has the patience to figure out what the total cost will be.

3.     Ensure Secure Encryption of Global Transactions:

If you want to be sure that your data is protected, you should only do business with organizations that are PCI-compliant. These are guidelines that were developed to guarentee that adequate safety measures are in place for the digital sphere. These are the guidelines that have safeguarded both client data and financial information.

Because over half of your consumers want to see visible security markings at the moment of checkout, you will need to choose a payment gateway that your customers can put their faith in.

It is important to steer clear of payment gateways that have a history of subpar security if you want to keep clients from giving up on their shopping carts or redirecting to other websites that are safer.

4.     Manage Sales Taxes for Each Country:

Dealing with global sales tax compliance is important since it is vital to apply local sales tax rates when selling software in different parts of the globe. You must submit and pay sales tax at the same location as your consumers, not in your location.

Your foreign payment gateway has to provide functionality for calculating sales tax that may be used throughout the checkout process, for recurring payments, and any modifications to subscriptions.

This computation has to take place for every transaction, client, and product, and it needs to be done following the regulations that apply to each jurisdiction in which you have consumers.

Leave a Reply